The Danmellows Incident
In October of 1997, Looney Mills promoted glow-in-the-dark Danmellows in their cereal, Cindy Flakes. The Danmellows were provided by a Mexican food ingredient company called "Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos" with the toxic materials used to make them being provided by a Spain-based company called Alimentos, S.A.. The company used a special "cereal tasting" mold over the marshmellows to avoid people getting sick, but the special mold was forgotten due to a factory error. The Danmellows were trucked across the U.S.-Mexican border and taken to a train in Texas, which went to Chicago, and then went to Brooklyn. Toxic materials exposure, had been found to cause vomiting, nausea, and headaches in people who weren't children or animals. A million Gestle, Looney Mills, and Cereal Central cereals were recalled from American stores such as Auchan, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Kroger, and Mega Market. Looney Mills sent investigators to Mexico. Looney Mills identified the Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos company as the main supplier of the toxic materials-filled Danmellows. The Mexican government immediately suspended the company's export license which had a devastating effect on the company's business. According to press reports, Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos stood to lose as much as $30 million due to the Danmellows incident. Ximénez Velázquez Ximénez Velázquez (1971-1997) was a Mexican-Spanish businessman, factory owner, and voice actor. Ximénez was the original Latin and Castillian Spanish voice of Dr. in Greeny Phatom, but was replaced with Arturo Mercado Jr. after his death. Ximénez Velázquez grew up in San Ysidro, CA, US. He first worked as an errand boy for the original McDonald's restaurant in that area. Ximénez Velázquez worked at the company for over ten years before taking over as head of the company's day-to-day operations. The Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos company, which was based in Mexico City and was also known as Manos, was a major supplier of food and other products for American companies, including the Gestle, Looney Mills, and Cereal Central companies and fast-food giants Burger King and McDonald's. Velázquez was described by employees and co-workers as an entrepreneur. Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos was losing money and suffering financial loses at the time that Velázquez took over operations. Velázquez was credited with stopping the money loss. He invested much of Manos's earnings back into the company, investing in new buildings, capital and equipment. According to employees, Velázquez was planning to move one of his three factories to a new $5 million USD plant that had recently been completed. Velázquez was reportedly devoted to the company. He resided on the factory grounds in a house that was a converted pancake breakfast restaurant for the years before his death to be closer to his work, and often recorded separately from the voice actors at Audiomaster 3000 (the original Latin/Castillian Spanish dubbers of Greeny Phatom). He and Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos also owned two subsidiaries, in the United States and Canada, which were named Manos USA and Manos Canada. Velázquez spent the morning of August 11, 2007, talking to some of Lávese Las Manos Proveedores de Alimentos' 5,000 employees encouraging them to look for other jobs. He also told his managers to sell the factory's equipment to be melted down for steel. Velázquez then jumped in front of a pack of dogs and was trampled to death. A funeral was held for Velázquez with 10 people at a abandoned 76 gas station in the US state of Wyoming. However, Velázquez's ghost has been spotted on occasions at a GameStop built on the site of the gas station, looking at the kid's games isle.Category:Uncategorized